Over the past few weeks I've been dwelling on what I believe to be the major disconnect in those of us who claim to be "Christian" in America today. My last blog talked all about glory. Glory simply means weightiness or thickness. According to this, we can say that a boulder has more glory than a feather.
In American churches today we are blessed with arguably the deepest theological teaching in the world. We have churches on every corner and can access to any sermon you could ever dream of online. While there are other countries that are closed to the Gospel and Bibles are illegal we are blessed with freedom to learn and follow our beliefs with little objection. With all of the teaching and sermonizing we have heard it's easy to let it all go straight to the head as another "concept". We know all about God as a concept. God is good. God is righteous. God is faithful. God is healer. God is savior. God is powerful. God is eternal. We know these concepts.
The problem is that when you know God as a concept...you are heavier than him. He is lighter than you. When you know God as a concept you have more glory than Him. You can twist him and turn him into what you want to be. We hear it all the time. "The god I know wouldn't do that". "The god I know wouldn't call me to go somewhere that is unsafe". "The god I know wants me to be happy". "The god I know would never have caused this natural disaster". When you only know God as a concept, you distance yourself from the God of the scriptures. We say, I'm smarter than God's revealed himself to mankind (Moses, Joseph, Job, John, Paul, James) for 4,000 years. I've always loved James 5:17 because it says that Elijah was a man just like us. Do you believe this? He caused the rain to stop for over 3 years, was fed by ravens, and resurrected a dead child all in 1 Kings 17. In chapter 18 Elijah calls God's fire from heaven to burn a bull on top of soaked wood and stood up to 450 prophets of Baal. Do you believe he was just a man like us and that God could use you just like this? Is God the same God of the Bible??
If you come to church on the weekends but it does not affect they way you live the rest of your week you only know God as a concept and a reality. When God is a concept and not a reality how you treat your neighbor doesn't change. When He's a concept and not a reality how you steward your money doesn't change. When He's a concept and not a reality how you talk about others when they aren't around doesn't change...BUT when He becomes our reality it changes everything.
Once you understand the reality of the glory of God you CANNOT walk away!
p.s. I encourage you to read the Word as a reality this week. Some good ones are: james 1:22, 1 cor 1:10, eph 4:26, ch 6, Matt ch 6 and 28:19-20. Also, you can read The Blueprint by Jaeson Ma if you want a present day example of following God as a reality.
hmm, AMEN is all I can say. I think sometimes too we can generally know God as more than a concept, but can revert back into God as a concept in some areas, does that make sense?
ReplyDeleteHey Andrea I just noticed your comment. Sorry for the delay. I agree with what you're saying. It's definitely a daily battle. Just because we have that time where we finally get it and God is a reality, doesn't mean that we have arrived. It doesn't mean that we won't revert back to a previous state of mind for a time and struggle.
ReplyDelete